The 1904 Wreck of the Paddle Steamer General Slocum (Episode 59)

Relative Disasters

On a sunny June day in 1904, well over a thousand German-American residents of Manhattan set out for a picnic and river cruise aboard the stately P.S. General Slocum. Fourteen years old, freshly painted and polished, and enjoying a reputation as one of New York's largest and most comfortable excursion steamships, the General Slocum was also a master class in maritime safety violations, with lifeboats that couldn't be launched, life preservers that couldn't float, and a fire suppression system that relied on rotten hoses and an untrained crew. Two hours after her launch that day, the vast majority of her passengers would be dead; the remainder would spend years trying to come to terms with New York's worst maritime disaster.

On this episode, we're discussing fake safety inspections, imaginary fire drills, what makes cork float, swimming in Hell Gate, life in New York City's Little Germany, and some theories on why some disasters are remembered far longer than others.

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Sources for this episode include:

New York’s Awful Steamboat Horror, HD Northrup, 1905

The General Slocum, by J. Kalafus for Gare Maritime, 2007

"The General Slocum Disaster of June 15, 1904", by V Wingfield for the New York Public Library Blog, 2011

"Thousands Sob as Baby Unveils Slocum Statue" NY Times, 1905

“Fearful Visitation, The Steamship Fire of the General Slocum, 1904” documentary by PBS, 2004